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How many times have your friends said, “You should write a book!”? Would you like to write a memoir or do you have expertise in one unique thing that no one else has written much about? Are you overwhelmed by your term paper, thesis, or dissertation? Or have you finished researching your family history and want to share it with the community? Perhaps your employer wants a souvenir book about its history to present to VIPs. Is your neighborhood or house of worship’s history missing from the library’s bookshelves? Or you’ve already published some essays or you had a blog and you want to collect your best work in a single volume.

If you are contemplating a book project, getting published is easier than ever. The bewildering variety of options include self-publishing, online publishing, and traditional commercial publishing. And there is much more to finishing your project than choosing your words, sentences, and paragraphs.

The Buffalo History Museum is pleased to offer a 4-part workshop series on navigating the nonfiction publishing process called So You Want to Write a Book? On all four Saturday mornings in February 2018, we will tackle critical questions on copyright and intellectual property, citing your sources, overcoming roadblocks, and finding a publisher or self-publishing.

Aspiring authors can sign up for the full series or pick and choose which sessions to attend. All sessions will be held in the auditorium of The Buffalo History Museum at 1 Museum Court, corner of Elmwood and Nottingham Terrace. Parking is free in our lot, plus we are on the #20 bus line.

The schedule is:

Week One: February 3, 2018, 10 am – 12 pm

Copyrights and Copywrongs

Nonfiction writing 101; how to make sure your research is legal; understanding permissions and intellectual property. Featured speakers are Cynthia Van Ness, Daniel DiLandro, and Stephanie “Cole” Adams

Week Two: February 10, 2018, 10 am – 12 pm

Give Me Proof

Citing your sources, using footnotes or end notes, compiling bibliographies and indexes; establishing your authority, and crediting those whose work you relied on. Featured speakers are Cynthia Van Ness, Daniel DiLandro. Frank Kowsky, and WNY Indexers.

Week Three: February 17, 2018, 10 am – 12 pm

Roadblock Day

How to get unstuck, featuring a Q&A panel of local authors who have been in your shoes: Rosanne Higgins, Tom Reigstad, Shane Stephenson

Like this:

By now, everyone who has ever nibbled on chicken wings prepared in a particular style knows their origin story: in 1964, at the Anchor Bar, Teressa Bellissimo cut some wings in half, deep fried them, tossed them in hot sauce, and served them at the bar with celery sticks and blue cheese dressing. A star was born. Today, Buffalo is not just a city, it is a flavor applied to just about anything: snack foods, cauliflower, shrimp, pasta salad, mac & cheese, hamburgers, stuffed mushrooms, and even pizza.

The Buffalo affection for chicken wings is not limited to the Bellissimo version, however. The first appearance of chicken wings in the Buffalo telephone book was courtesy of John M. Young (1935-1988). Young, an African-American entrepreneur, opened a restaurant in 1966 called “Wings & Things” at 1313 Jefferson Avenue. His wings were uncut, breaded, deep-fried, and served with his secret, tomato-based Mambo Sauce. They were sold ten for a dollar. We are indebted to Steve Cichon for first reporting the telephone book entry.

We can look even further back than the 1960s for evidence of chicken wings on the plates of Buffalonians. On August 16, 1894, the Buffalo Commercial Advertiser published this less-than-appetizing recipe for chicken wings:

We have no way of knowing if any 19th century Buffalo households had a copy of The Modern Cook by Charles E. Francatelli (11th edition, 1858), but in it we found this wing recipe, which also sounds fairly unpleasant:

We can, however, show that Buffalo’s chicken wing pedigree began at least 160 years ago. In our menu collection is a Bill of Fare dated July 1, 1857, from the Clarendon Hotel at Main & South Division:

The wine list was longer than the food list. However, in small print, under Entrees, one finds not only the delightful Macaroni baked, with Cheese, but this offering: Chicken Wings, fried. Buffalo comes by its association with chicken wings honestly.

The Clarendon Hotel, shown above in an illustration from Picture Book of Earlier Buffalo, p. 157, was built in 1849 as the Phelps House. Under the new management of Captain Henry Van Allen, it was renamed the Clarendon in 1853 and described as a “first class, well kept” hotel. That year, the Buffalo Daily Republic reported, with a cryptic reference to earlier labor difficulties:

At the Clarendon Hotel, girls have been introduced as waiters, with good success. They get from $6 to $8 per month. No other of our principal Hotels has yet tried them. The proprietors think that the employment of girls will alone exempt the Hotels from a repetition of the annoyance already experienced.

Daily Republic, May 3, 1853

Also in 1853 was this episode of bravery concerning an omnibus, a horse-drawn passenger vehicle:

An omnibus, standing at the Clarendon this morning, while the driver was attending to some baggage, started off, and proceeded down Main Street at full speed. When nearly opposite Swan Street a colored man named Jackson started out and caught the lines and stopped the team, amid the applause of several by-standers.

Daily Republic, Sept. 3, 1853

The Clarendon Hotel served the traveling public and boarders until Nov. 10, 1860, when it was destroyed by fire. At least four guests and two chambermaids lost their lives. Today it is the site of Fireman’s Park, between 1 M&T Plaza and the Ellicott Square building. We hereby credit the Clarendon Hotel as the first known establishment in Buffalo to hire waitresses and to serve chicken wings.

Cynthia Van Ness, MLSDirector of Library and Archives

•This article was featured in the 2017 Summer issue of The Album. To learn more about Buffalo-area food & restaurant items in the Library’s collection, see this list maintained by Library staff.

Part of the process of preparing for a major exhibit is to get familiar with the relevant material items in our collection. One of the things we did in the Library is to compile a bibliography, called Buffalo in World War I, which gives the researcher a good idea of what we have before planning a visit. You can browse it here:

In 1918 and 1919, the U.S. Government hosted a series of War Expositions around the country. The show came to the Broadway Auditorium and Elmwood Music Hall from January 4 to 12, 1919. Some of the featured exhibits were American war trophies; weapons and other goods from the U.S Army & Navy; a British government collection of war relics; a British collection of German contraband found in the mails; military training material about “social hygiene” (sexually transmitted infections), and live demonstrations of Boy Scout skills. The Library has the souvenir catalogue from the Exposition.

Fort Porter Reporter, January 31-September 29, 1919

Long demolished to make way for the Peace Bridge, Fort Porter was an active Army base during World War I. This newspaper succeeded Trench and Camp as the fort’s weekly soldier paper. It reported on such activities as the construction of a new garage; the arrival of male nurses; the value of the X-ray; the anticipation of a jazz dance at the Elmwood Music Hall; the meaning of insignia on uniforms; the proper disposition of enemy goods captured during battle; and notices of casualties, weddings, and promotions. Our issues are in hard copy in a single bound volume.

Guide to Buffalo and Niagara Falls for the Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines of the United States and its Allies

It is a short publication with a long name.This foldout brochure was compiled by the Buffalo Commission on War Camp Community Service in 1918. The first order of business was to alert members of the armed forces where they could find inexpensive lodgings in Buffalo. In 1918, there were three Service Clubs operating, all in or near downtown Buffalo.These were destinations designed for visiting soldiers, featuring such amenities as meals, baths, “writing rooms,” reading rooms, and entertainment. Servicemen were also informed about libraries, military offices, railroad stations, hospitals, major churches, and entertainment. During the war, seats at the Buffalo Baseball Park, later the site of Offermann Stadium, were free to men in uniform.

Duffy’s War: Fr. Francis Duffy, Wild Bill Donovan, and the Irish Fighting 69th in World War I

Published in 2008 by Stephen Harris, this book is one of our more recent acquisitions. The 69th Infantry Regiment is presently headquartered in Manhattan. During World War I, one of its members was a Buffalo soldier, William J. Donovan, who later went on to found the Office of Strategic Services, known today as the CIA. When he joined this unit, Donovan was a 34-year-old attorney. At the end of the war, he was a colonel. Francis P. Duffy, a military chaplain, was revered by his troops and earned more decorations than any other clergyman in U.S. Army history. Duffy Square in New York City is named in his honor.

Buffalo Will See It Through

This slogan was coined to support the Liberty Loan drives. It was produced and distributed as a poster and handbill. In a previous newsletter, we published a photograph of a young man pastingit to a telephone pole. In the Library’s vertical files are examples of the original poster in its original red, white, and blue.

Cynthia Van Ness, MLSDirector of Library & Archives

*This article was featured in the Spring 2017 issue of “The Album,” The Buffalo History Museum’s quarterly newsletter.

Starting in the mid-1960s, a Greek immigrant named James Eoannou purchased his friend’s concession pushcart and began selling popcorn, peanuts, and corn-fritters in North Buffalo neighborhoods. He later moved to Delaware Road and began servicing the suburban neighborhoods in the Town of Tonawanda and the Village of Kenmore. One of the signals that summer had come to Buffalo was the arrival of the popcorn man. James was a full-time cook for the Buffalo Athletic Club and loved to go for long, rambling walks. He decided to put his walks to good use and bring some joy to children, and often the adults, of these neighborhoods.

The wooden handcart is painted red, white, and blue and has glass windows and a glass door to access the popcorn compartment. The cart was made by A. Elsinghorst, at the Elsinghorst Building located on 138-140 Broadway in Buffalo. This wonderful addition to our collection, donated to us by Mr. Eoannou’s family, includes the original tarp for covering the goods in the cart, two denim aprons, with three pockets, that were worn by James, and 40 red, white, and blue paper popcorn bags of varying sizes. The handcart is a great Buffalo summertime memory.

If you’re a first-time visitor to the Research Library, it is not immediately apparent what you can do and discover here. So we thought we’d write a list for the neophyte.

1. Look for a relative or ancestor’s obituary. We have a card file with names of people who were listed in obituary columns in Buffalo daily newspapers, 1811-2001. There are about 99,000 names in alphabetical order. While this isn’t every single death reported in almost two centuries of Buffalo newspapers, it is the largest obituary index in Erie County.

2. Read a newspaper published the day you were born. We have Buffalo newspapers on microfilm from 1811 to about 2011, including Polish and German papers published here. We can get out y

our birthday paper, load it on a microfilm reader-printer, and you can make black & white copies from it for $.25/page.

3. See if we have a picture of the house you grew up in. We have about 30,000 house & building photos from Buffalo & surrounding area. Maybe we have your childhood home or corner store.

4. Figure out where your grandparents lived. If no one can recall for sure where Grandma & Grandpa lived, come on in and consult our Buffalo city directories. We have one for every year from 1828 to 2001, with a few gaps.

5. Look at Buffalo & Erie County atlases. We have roughly one per decade from 1850 to 1950, with a few gaps. What’s great about them is that they show footprints of individual houses & buildings that used to be there or might still be there today. You can look at them one by one and see when your house first appears, which helps you narrow down when it was built.

6. Check our vintage postcards. We have about 8,000 Buffalo picture postcards organized by subject (including many duplicates), plus we have a separate album of about 400 Buffalo cards collected and donated by Phyllis Peyton. Her album is out on a counter for anyone to browse.

7. Use our WiFi. The Museum has free wifi throughout our building. Ask for the log-in at the Front Desk or in the Research Library.

8. Check out our new acquisitions. We are always adding to the collection in one way or another. We purchase Buffalo-related books today that we think will answer questions tomorrow and beyond. Maybe we found something that you didn’t know existed.

9. Look at church records on microfilm. These are important for family history research. New York State did not pass a vital records law until 1880, meaning that there are no government-issued birth certificates, marriage licenses, or death certificates prior to1880. This is where sacramental records come in. We have baptism, marriage, and death records on microfilm from about 180 local congregations, mostly Roman Catholic, Episcopal, and Methodist. Special bonus: we also have some cemetery records on microfilm.

10. Pick our brains. Got a Buffalo-area history question or research problem and you don’t know where to start? Our expert librarians are on duty whenever the Research Library is open to the public. While we cannot undertake your research for you, we can identify and pull out relevant books, clippings, atlases, pictures, microfilms, or more, to get you started. We don’t always know what the answer is; we know (or work to figure out) where the answer is.

The Library is open Wednesdays through Saturdays, 1:00 to 5:00 pm, plus evening hours on Wednesdays, 6:00 to 8:00 pm. No appointments are necessary. Admission is free for members and $7 for general. Questions? Call us at (716) 873-9644 ext. 306 or email library@buffalohistory.org.

Cynthia Van Ness, MLSDirector of Library & Archives

*This article was featured in the Winter 2016-2017 issue of “The Album,” The Buffalo History Museum’s quarterly newsletter.

Michael Wiedrich (b.1820 – d.1899) immigrated to the United States from Alsace-Lorraine, France in 1837.At the start of the Civil War in 1861 he was a shipping clerk for Pratt & Letchworth in Buffalo and served as a captain in the 65th Regiment New York State Militia.

Under authority from the War Department, Wiedrich organized a unit known as Battery I of the 1st New York Artillery or Wiedrich’s Battery. It was composed of 140 men and officers exclusively of German descent. The battery participated in battles at Cross Keys, Freeman’s Ford, Second Bull Run, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. Other battles included Lookout Mountain, Kennesaw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek, and the Siege of Atlanta. In February 1863 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel of the 15th Artillery. Wiedrich’s unit mustered out (disbanded) in 1865.

Presentation Sword, 1864. The sword’s scabbard is inscribed, “Presented to Lt. Col. Michael Wiedrich by Battery 1, 1st N.Y. Art. May 21, 1864,” it also lists the various battles the unit was engaged in during the Civil War. From TBHM collection.

Wiedrich returned to Buffalo after the Civil War, where he held several public offices and was involved in the fire insurance business until his death in 1899.

Dedication of Wiedrich’s Battery Monument at Gettysburg, PA 1889.

This 1889 newspaper clipping captures the surviving members of the 1st New York Artillery (Wiedrich’s Battery). The clipping is part of a Wiedrich family scrapbook located in the Buffalo History Museum’s Research Library.

The plaster model for the bronze bas-relief of Weidrich’s Battery, which appears on the memorial in the photograph, is on display in the Identity section of the exhibitNeighbors: The People of Erie Countyexhibit.

In our upcoming World War I exhibit, “For Home and Country”, we will be featuring an oil painting by Lt. Clement C. Beuchat, entitled “78 Lightening Division at Thiaucourt, France, 1918”. This piece depicts a group of World War I soldiers on horseback in the town of Thiaucourt, France, most likely illustrating the remains of the town during or after the Battle of Saint-Mihiel.

Clement Beuchat was born in Buffalo, NY on March 28, 1891. He attended the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy and studied under Earnest Fosberry. Beuchat joined the New York National Guard 78th Division. He was involved in the pursuit of Pancho Villa during the Texas Border Campaign from 1914-1917 and he was eventually sent to fight in World War I. Clement continued to paint for the duration of his military service. He painted throughout the Southwest until he was sent to Europe, where he continued his artistic endeavors while stationed in France. Beuchat fought in several major battles during the Great War and received the Victory Medal with three Battle Stars, along with other service awards. He returned home in 1919, where he became a member of the Fine Arts League and continued to paint until his death in 1955.

While doing the research on this painting and Clement, I learned that Beuchat was an original member of the Saturday Sketch Club in Springbrook, New York along with other artists such as Arthur Kowalski, Harry O’Neill, William J. Schwanekamp, and Julius Lankes. This is notable because there is a sketch box used by Buffalo painter and engraver, J.J Lankes as part of the Saturday Sketch Club, in our collection. The Saturday Sketch Club was formed in reaction to the dismissal of Mr. Earnest Fosberry, an artist and teacher at the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy. A group of students, including those mentioned above, created this art school with Mr. Fosberry as their instructor and critic, as a way to protest the firing of their favorite teacher.

Here is a photo of some of the members of the Saturday Sketch Club of Springbrook, including Beuchat, with his right foot on the step in the center of the picture. Left to right: Thundercloud, a Blackfoot Indian model who served in his early days as scout for Custer’s 7th Cavalry; William J. Schwanekamp; Ernest Fosberry (in Derby hat), instructor; John Kneuhal; Edgar Kowalski; Al Barwell “Shorty”; Jules Meyers; Clement Beuchat (with his right foot on the step in the center of the picture); Myron Moyer; J.J. Lankes; and Harry O’Neill

The students would meet at a cabin out in Springbrook, NY to immerse themselves in nature. They all had their own sketch boxes with attached seats that were portable and could be carried throughout the surrounding area to set up a painting station wherever they liked. The sketch boxes, like the one in our collection, were made up of wooden boxes attached to wooden folding stools that had multi-colored canvas seats for the artists to sit on while they worked. The boxes opened on metal hinges that locked to create makeshift easels. Inside the box would be all the tools an artist would need including a wooden palette, paints, paintbrushes, and charcoal.

As I transitioned from researching the Clement Beuchat painting to the Saturday Sketch Club, I stumbled upon a large collection of photographs of the original members of the organization, some of which are featured here. Sometimes technology is a wonderful thing and I was able to reach out to Elizabeth Lankes, who uploaded these images to her Flickr account. Elizabeth is the granddaughter of J.J. Lankes and it was so much fun to be able to connect with her. I truly appreciate all of the photos that she sent me and getting to speak with someone who so clearly treasures her family’s history. This is such a wonderful part of my job as the Registrar at The Buffalo History Museum, getting to learn all of these stories, share them with the public, and interact with others who love our history. If you want to see more of these photos you can go to Elizabeth’s Flickr page at https://www.flickr.com/photos/11435178@N03/albums/72157608622346090

All of the photos of the Saturday Sketch Club were graciously provided by Elizabeth Lankes, Julius’ granddaughter, and are from the Estate of J.J. Lankes.

When hometown heroes make it big in American pop culture, we do our best to make sure that they are represented in the Research Library collection. In alphabetical order, below are some books and other items we have collected on celebrities from Buffalo.

Harold Arlen: rhythm, rainbows, and bluesA biography by Edward Jablonski on the creator of Over the Rainbow”Call Number: ML 410 .A76 J33 1996

James, Rick
The confessions of Rick James: memoirs of a super freak
His autobiography, published after his deathCall Number: ML 420 .J233 A3 2007

Rodriguez, Spain
Cruisin’ with the Hound: comics
A graphic novel by the recently-deceased cartoonist, featuring locales and events in Buffalo in the 1950s and’60s.Call Number: PN 6727 .R625 C78 2012

Milton Rogovin: the making of a social documentary photographer
A biography by Melanie HerzogCall Number: TR 647 .R62 H47 2006

Investigation of Communist activities in the Buffalo, N.Y. area: hearings, 1957These transcripts of the hearings held by House Committee on
Un-AmericanActivities led to the blacklisting of Milton RogovinCall Number: HX 92 .B9 A52 1957

These items can be seen during normal library hours, Wednesdays through Saturdays, 1-5 pm and Wednesday evenings 6-8pm. No appointments are necessary.Questions? Call us at (716) 873-9644 x 306 or email library@buffalohistory.org.

In 1987, Julia Boyer Reinstein, historian and architectural preservationist, donated over 80 quilts and bed coverings to The Buffalo History Museum. Early on in her life, Julia became fascinated with quilts and believed in the importance of documenting their histories. She received a Bachelor’s degree in History from Elmira College for Women in 1928, writing her senior thesis on early American quilts. Beginning her collection with family quilts, she focused her collecting goals on quilts made west of the Genesee River. Remarkably, only twelve of the quilts in her collection were purchased, the rest were given to her as gifts or through inheritance.

Pictured is a red and white Chimney Sweep quilt from Julia Boyer Reinstein’s quilt collection, also known as an Album or Autograph quilt. It was pieced together by Eliza Graves (later Pickett) between 1852 and 1853, and was assembled and completed in 1854, in Perry, NY. Eliza Graves, pictured above, was Julia Boyer Reinstein’s great grandmother. The Chimney Sweep pattern was very popular for Album quilts in the mid-19th century because a name or inscription could be written on the central cross of each block. According to oral histories from the family, the blocks of this quilt were originally autographed, in pencil, by the young men of Castile, NY.Before Eliza could embroider the names, she became engaged to Daniel Pickett.Once she assembled the quilt, she chose to wash out all of the names, eliminating the memory of her previous suitors. The quilt is backed with her own handspun and hand-loomed cotton.

During Abraham Lincoln’s visit to Chicago in March 1860, American sculptor Leonard Volk took a life mask of the future President. It took about an hour to set the plaster on his face with straws in his nostrils, while Lincoln understandably disliked the process, he was pleased with the outcome. In May 1860, the sculptor took castings of Lincoln’s hands in Springfield, IL. Volk decided that he would like the President to hold something when he took the cast of his hands, so Lincoln obliged him by going out to the wood shed, sawing off a broom handle, and smoothing down the edges to hold in his hand.

Volk used the mask and hand castings to sculpt busts and full-length statues of Lincoln. It may be that the Volk mask of Lincoln is the most reliable document of Lincoln’s face. Unlike photographs, it preserved the actual form. In the years since the original mask was made, other sculptors have turned to it for their inspiration. Copies, such as the one in our collection, have been cast and sold commercially several times throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries.